


Antihero

by kyosuki, SleepingBeautyAur0ra



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dark Mark (Harry Potter), F/M, Lost Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:28:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28213185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyosuki/pseuds/kyosuki, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepingBeautyAur0ra/pseuds/SleepingBeautyAur0ra
Summary: There were two sides: light and darkness. The war was never-ending; the Order and the Death Eaters seemed as though they would fight until they were all dead. Hermione Granger, though surrounded by people, always found herself alone. During unlucky battle, Ron Weasley gets captured and taken hostage by Death Eaters. The Order is given a quid pro quo: Weasley for Granger. She finds herself serving the Death Eaters alongside her dueling partner, Draco Malfoy. Through training, turmoil, angst and longing, Hermione finds a companion in Malfoy. Maybe there was a third side to the war. Her own.*This is an AU of Harry Potter. All character designs belong to J.K. Rowling.*
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

Hermione struggled to see reason to keep fighting.

The second war between two forces had been ongoing for almost 3 years now, and the Order had been going through catastrophic losses throughout. During the multiple battles they had fought, they had managed to lose Cedric Diggory, Colin Creevery, and Padma Patil. Three crucial members of the Order of The Phoenix. 

Padma had been an experience healer who would wait for members to come back with injuries. She would train Colin, and when the injuries at St. Mungo’s were too stressful, he would do his best to help out. Cedric was a powerful wizard on the battlefield, but he had once been apparted to St. Mungo’s after being hit with a knee-reversing hex, and had been splinched in the process. After Padma had diagnosed and healed him, Cedric had been laying on the bed and hit Colin with a dark magic spell, Viscera Fragor. This sent the Hospital room into chaos. Colin’s stomach had been inverted and twisted until he started vomiting his own blood out, and Padma couldn’t do anything to fix him in time. When Colin’s pale body lay still on the ground, she stood up to cast a Stupefy at Cedric, but he responded with a killing curse, and Padma was on the ground next to Colin. Before Cedric could do any more damage, Aurors flooded the building and took him away. It was rumored that he was taken to Azkaban, or the lower cages in the psychiatry floor of St. Mungo’s, but nobody knew for sure.

It was assumed that Cedric had acted under the Imperius Curse before he was apparated. 

Harry and Ron had changed in ways Hermione failed to to understand. She would ponder about their school days, reminiscing about when they would sneak out after hours with Harry’s invisibility cloak, or their weekend trips to Hogsmede, where they’d return to school with their favorite toffees and sweets.

“Merlin’s beard Ron! How many of those caramel toffees have you had?” giggled Hermione, sipping on her butterbeer.

“I would imagine it’s less than how much butterbeer you’ve had, Mione’.” Harry laughed as he stared at his red-headed best friend, who was mouth-full of sweeties.

“What time is it Hermione?” asked Ron, choking on his candy.

“It’s 2:34 p.m. Ronald, we have Defense Against the Dark Arts at 3:30. I don’t remember you ever being so eager to get to class.” snarked the girl, with a foam mustache above her lip.

“You bloody idiot, you’ve got butterbeer above your mouth! I’ve got it.” Ron said as Harry stifled a laugh.

He picked up the nearest tissue, and wiped her lips clean of the foam. “We’re going to be late for class, let’s get going.” Hermione spoke, excited to learn more from Professor Moody.

The three giggled and stumbled back to the castle they called home, and attended their last class of the day. 

Despite how close the “Golden Trio’ had been in their Hogwarts years, something had changed their relationship with each other. Hope was the only thing keeping them fighting. 

The air at 12 Grimmauld Place was thick, tension was high, and much of the Order was debating what they could do next as their move in the war.

“What if we took one of Riddle’s top men as a hostage? Then they wouldn’t move forward with any plans they have until they get their Death Eater back.”

“Don’t be stupid Ronald. He’s not going to care if we take one of his men as a hostage. He doesn’t care about his people in the slightest,” spoke Hermione with slight annoyance in her tone.

“Mione’s right. He won't stop just because he’s lost one man,” Harry looked at Hermione with an agreeing look. Ron slumped back in his chair, looking defeated.

“What do you suggest we do then Harry?” Luna questioned, in her faint, polite voice.

“I think we need to take back the Ministry,” interrupted Remus, serious in his expression.

“How the bloody hell do we do that?” said Ron.

“Shut it Ronald!” said Hermione strictly. 

Ginny, Fred, George, Neville, and the rest of the Order looked at Hermione and got the signal to listen.

“Remus is right. If we’re going to have even the slightest chance at winning this war, we need to be ahead of Riddle. He’s taken over the Ministry and if we get it back it’s a huge advantage on our part,” Ginny admitted.

“Brilliant. We go in pairs, at sun up tomorrow. Ginny with Luna, Tonks with Remus, Fred with George, Neville with Hermione, and I’m with Ron,” Harry stated, “and Hermione, do we have any more of that Polyjuice potion?”

“No. Fred and George used the last of it on our last mission.”

“We’ll travel in the shadows then. We can’t wait months just to brew another batch,” said Ron.

Hermione thought about the idea of this plan, and without the polyjuice potion, it would end up with them like a deer in headlights. She didn’t bother to speak up about it, knowing that once the plan was set, it was set. No use arguing about it now.

“Good, we infiltrate next Tuesday.” Harry looked up and nodded at the group.

Day quickly fell to night and the Order found themselves drifting off into a state of sleep. Hermione laid in Ron’s cot and wondered how the next two weeks were going to go.

“Ron.”

“What is it, Hermione.” Ron responded half asleep.

“You know that no matter what happens and no matter what decisions you make I’ll always love you, right?” 

“Yeah.”

“Alright, I just wanted to let you know that.” Hermione sighed, pecked his lips, and left his bed to return to her own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hii! chapter number one is up ^_- huge thanks to karmen aka the best co-author ever. couldn't have done this without you. we can't wait to show you guys what else we have in store for you. have a nice rest of ur day :)


	2. Chapter 2

A glowing red light followed by a loud bang had startled the majority of the Order out of their beds. Harry groaned and whispered, “Mione, ten more minutes.”; Ron twisted so rapidly that he fell off his cot. Hermione sleepily stood up, confused. It was dead of night, the Order was wondering what was going on. She stretched and reached for her wand, ready to tell off whoever had cast the spell. Another streak of magic streamed right past Hermione and she quickly ducked behind her bed, the spell barely missing her head. She heard a soft ringing in her ear afterwards; it was enough to snap her out of her semi-consciousness and back into reality. The Death Eaters had somehow gotten into the Black family home and the Order was under siege, yet again. Hermione silently thanked her reflexes and snatched her wand. 

“Expelliarmus!” she shouted and charged at the caster in hopes of restraining them before another spell was unleashed. The wand went flying out their hand. 

Ron had finally detangled himself from his raggedy blankets and grabbed the person’s hands, restraining them. Hermione looked up at a familiar face. Goyle, she thought as she viciously punched him right in the nose. 

“Where are the rest of you?” Harry grabbed Goyle and shook him like he could shake all the vital information out of him. 

Goyle smiled at Harry with crimson red blood dripping down his face and staining his clothes. “Why don’t you go outside and find out?” He sneered at Harry as Hermione punched him again, causing him to cry out in pain. 

“Petrificus Totalus.” Goyle’s smirk was ripped off his face and he fell to the ground unable to move. 

Ron towered over Goyle’s immobilized body with a sneer on his face. He had never really gotten over him, Malfoy and Crabbe bullying him back at Hogwarts. 

“Come on, let’s go. We don’t have the time to wait here. Ron, let’s go!” Harry tugged at his best friend’s sleeve and Ron shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry, I’m coming.”

The three raced out of the dilapidated building with many questions on their minds. Many other Order members followed in pursuit.

“Bloody hell! How did they get the location of the safe-house? I thought that we had a ton of wards at the place.” Ron scowled since he had been the one to place a majority of the protective spells upon the location.

“We were only planning on staying here for the night. It must’ve been too obvious.” Harry let out a sigh of relief, however that relief did not long last.

“Someone must be acting as a double agent. But we haven’t the time to ponder about that now, Ronald. We need to make sure no one else gets hurt.” Hermione dashed to the front door and gaped at the sight before her. 

Dozens of Death Eaters solemnly stood in front of the safe-house, waiting for some sort of signal. By that time, all of the Order had woken up and they were standing behind the trio underneath the doorway. Neither side moved for a good five minutes. A masked figure from the Death Eaters’ side walked up to the front of the movement; Harry attempted to do the same but Remus held him back with a steady hand. The Order’s top priority was Harry Potter, the Boy who Lived. Without him, they would be nothing. The figure raised a slender yet muscular arm and put a finger up in the air. 

Everyone on the Order’s side drew out their wands whilst the Death Eaters still did not advance. Strange, Hermione thought. 

Her mind quickly snapped back to all of the ancient relics that they had stored in the back room. The Order’s main goal as of the moment was to stop Riddle through the means of destroying his horcruxes. Without goblin-made materials, they were practically indestructible. She quickly flipped through the catalog in her brain, trying to figure out any items of importance. 

The Sword of Gryffindor. 

Hermione stood there conflicted. She could either stay here to help her friends ward off the Death Eaters. She could help to protect multiple lives as one of the most powerful witches and duelers of the Order. Or. Hermione could go back in order to protect all of the relics that would help them with taking down Riddle. 

The two different situations clashed as she hurriedly tried to come to a conclusion. 

Well, technically the Death Eaters don’t know that you are currently hunting down horcruxes. They wouldn’t be aware of the importance of the sword. Stay here. Your friends are in need of your assistance. You wouldn’t be able to handle if another situation like Colin’s happened. She tried to hold back her tears when she thought about her late friend. 

Actually, there’s probably a snitch in the Order. How else would they know that we were residing at the Black’s house? We had a ton of wards on the place, too. They could’ve also given away information about the horcuxes. Plus, we haven’t had the time to find many other materials strong enough to finish the horcruxes. If we lose the sword of Gryffindor, we might as well have lost the entire war. 

Hermione hated that she could sometimes be so ruled by her emotions and then the next moment, she wouldn’t even know what emotions were. She was running out of time. She had to decide. 

In the blink of an eye, Hermione leaned over to kiss Harry and Ron on the cheek. “Stay safe guys. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” She turned around and ran away before she could see their response.

She knew that when she returned they would be very upset. Picturing Harry’s confused yet irritated face in her head, she fled to the back room as quietly as she humanly could. Hermione did not want to reveal anything of importance to the Death Eaters. If her unexpected getaway wasn’t enough already. 

The Order could live if they lost a few battles but this sword was crucial to winning the war. 

After sneaking around in the shadows for a while, she had found herself in the doorway of the storage room. It was hidden in the back of House of Black, basically inaccessible unless you knew it was there. She stepped up to the door and held the doorknob. Click. The door swung open with a few groans of protest and the room inside was, well, a mess. 

There was dust flying in every direction from the moment Hermione stepped in. Under normal conditions, her first instinct would take a moment to tidy up but she had no time. Immediately, she started casting protective wards around the room and made sure that the sword was still intact. 

After that, all she had to do was wait.

Hermione was second guessing herself leaving her friends and almost convinced herself into going back to the battle ground. Only thing that kept her from moving was the fact that Harry had already sacrificed so much for the movement. She couldn’t throw away everything he had worked for just because she wasn’t able to sit in one spot for more than ten minutes. 

The sounds of battle rattled the house to the very core and emanated across the corridors. Hermione just curled her knees into her chest and began to think. A secret that she would take to her grave is that battle made her feel nauseous. She hated the feeling of fear. That she might wake up the next day with another friend buried six feet in the ground. So she cried, trying to expel this burst of emotion as quickly as she could. Another thing Hermione couldn’t tolerate was being vulnerable. 

It felt like it was many hours before she pulled herself together.

As soon as the battle had begun, it was over. There was an eerie silence as she stepped out into the hallway. Her mind quickly turned to the many dark things that could’ve happened while she was hiding in a literal corner. Hermione sprinted to the main room, hoping to see some familiar faces. 

Hermione was met with a sight that would haunt her forever. 

Tonks was dead. 

Tonks, the same Tonks that had always been there for Hermione. Whenever she was down, Tonks would drop by with a cup of tea to talk to her about her feelings. Even when Hermione had teased her about being sappy. Nymphadora Tonks was the light of the Order and left smiles wherever she went. Now her lifeless dead body was on the floor and she was never going to be that same bright light again

Hermione rushed forward to see if there was anything that she could do. She knew it was irrational but there had to be something she could do. Anything. 

“Maybe a Dark Magic spell? Anything, there must be something!” she panicked as she scanned through her brain, thinking of something she could do.

She racked the memories of her brain to no avail. The top witch at Hogwarts but she couldn't even save Tonks. Hermione was useless. 

The curly haired girl leaned over to close Tonks’s eyes. She pressed a solid kiss to her forehead and tears began to stream down her face. Her already broken heart shattered into a thousand more pieces. Skin to skin with Tonks, Hermione could feel the warmth slowly draining from her as she stepped closer into the next life. 

Someone’s hand gripped around Hermione’s forearm and dragged her up to her feet. Surprised at the act, she looked up to see Harry glaring at her through her blurred vision. 

“And where the bloody hell were you?” His tone was pure ice with the intent to cut open Hermione. 

“I was watching the damn sword. You know, the sword of Gryffindor? The only thing in our possession that is strong enough to destroy the horcruxes?”

“You left the rest of us out here to die!”

“Well, I’m sorry Harry that I care about us winning the war. This sword is essential in winning and you’re well aware of that.”

Hermione’s statement was met with silence.

“Mione, I think you’re forgetting that our lives are more bloody important than that stupid sword. We would’ve been able to find it eventually, if it was stolen. As a matter of fact, did anyone even come in to steal it? Huh?” Ron’s voice cut through the tension. 

“No one did. But what if they had?” Hermione’s voice began to quiver as they had found a fault in her plan. 

“Exactly. No one did.” Harry whispered and silently kneeled down to Tonks. 

“You’re the reason we lost Tonks, Hermione. You weren’t there to help cover me today and she died trying to save me. She lost her life because you wanted to cower in the corner!” Harry screamed and tears of rage poured down this face. 

Hermione paled and leaned back onto a wall for support. 

Harry was right. 

Tonks’s blood was on her hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter 2 lol. i'll tag karmen (my co-author) once she makes an ao3 account. thank you for reading and don't forget to leave a comment/kudos! we try to update as soon as humanly possible ^_- <3


	3. Chapter 3

Tonks’s death was a large blow to the Order.

The Order of Phoenix held a funeral for Tonks, if Hermione could even call it that. The “funeral”, more so a semi-formal burial with a small speech and service at the end. The Order never wasted time with burials after a battle; the preferred method of discarding the bodies was lighting them with an Incendio spell and remembering their faces during battle. However, Tonks was a special case. She had lit up the lives of the Order and made them want to wake up every morning. Hermione could even write a book about how Nymphadora Tonks has impacted her life in a better way if there wasn’t a war going on. ‘Dora stood out from the rest. They decided that this is something that she would’ve wanted. 

Remus was standing near the gravesite with tears in his eyes. He held a bouquet of weeping sunflowers in his hand. Tonk’s favorite. He walked to Hermione and looked at her with utter dejection, a type of pain that even time couldn’t heal. It makes sense, he was a man who had the love of his life taken away.

A few more years and maybe they would have gotten married in a small church, could’ve had children together, thought Hermione. 

Hermione had ripped that chance away from him. She had taken away Tonks from not only Remus but the rest of the Order too. Tonks was just like a second mother or an older sister to many of the younger members. She fought alongside them and vowed to protect them, even if it cost her own life. Tonks could do no wrong yet she had one fatal flaw: she would give up her life for anyone who mattered to her. Ultimately she paid the price: her life for Harry’s, The Chosen One.

Hermione would not cry today. She had cried too much and had no tears left to do so. Tonk’s death had taken a mental toll on Hermione and it seemed as though it was her breaking point. She could no longer feel; being the reason someone loses their innocent life pushes one to a limit they didn’t know they had.

Harry stepped up beside Tonk’s grave and took a deep breath. 

“Everyone. If I may have your attention. We are gathered here today to not mourn the loss of her but to celebrate the life of Nymphadora Tonks.”

Remus started to sob mid-sentence. Hermione reached out to comfort him but Ron got there first. He gave him a hug and glared at Hermione. 

“Tonks has impacted every single one of us. Either in a negative way or a positive one. It depends on how we choose to perceive it. We have all learned something from this wonderful woman that we will use for the rest of her life.”

Harry looked at the floor where Tonks laid and continued. Hermione stood with guilt that she thought would never leave her body.

“The one thing that I learned from Tonks was to always be compassionate and put others before yourself. If Nymphadora hadn’t done so, I wouldn’t be standing here today. She had sacrificed herself to the movement of the Order of the Phoenix and she wouldn’t have had she not believed in us. Tonks believes in us. She always did.” 

Remus had managed to bring himself under control and took it from here forth.

“I had the chance to l-love Nymphadora Tonks. I am so grateful that I was able to experience that before she was t-taken away from us. She had the biggest heart that anyone in this universe could wish to have. So don’t let her sacrifice be in vain. Please.”

Nymphadora Tonks was finally put to rest. 

Not long after mourning Tonks, a stone-faced Severus Snape walked into the safe house the Order had relocated to. The Order ran to a large table that sat in the main room, and Severus followed.

In his slow, deep voice that Hermione recognized from her school days, he spoke, “The Death Eaters have not been as active as I expected. I strongly recommend preparing for a serious attack of some sort.”

“Has Tom said anything about what he might plan on doing? Offensively, I mean.” asked Hermione in a serious tone. 

“Not to my knowledge.” 

“Come on Severus. There has to be something,” Remus said, more determined than ever to avenge his love.

“Everyone should get to training then,” Harry affirmed to the group, “we can’t waste any more time.”

“How do you know we should be training for a battle, Harry? I think we should focus on setting up wards around the safe house. Quite frankly, I’m not in the mood to be bombarded with Death Eaters at my front door,” said an angry Ginny.

“Oi Hermione, do you think Ginny and Harry are doing alright? They only argue like this when their relationship isn’t doing too well,” whispered Ron to Hermione.

“They’re probably fine Ron. Can we please focus on the issue at hand?” Hermione shot back, a calm look on her face.

If he was so worried about their relationship, what was distracting him from ours?

Severus cleared his throat, “I’m afraid that is all the information I know, Remus.”

What each member of the order is doing for the free time

Each Order member stood up from the table and walked away to tend to their own things. Hermione saw Ginny, Neville, and Luna walk out of the safe house to cast wards around them. Harry walked into the room they had designated for training with Lupin, Lee Jordan, Fred, and George.

Before Ron could join either of the groups, Hermione took this as an opportunity to talk to Ron. This time of calm and tranquil could quickly vanish, and she needed to use it to her full advantage.

“Ron I need to speak with you.”

“Not now Hermione, I need to go set up the wards.” 

“Ron please,” Hermione spoke, with desperation in her eyes, “Ron what happened? What happened to us?”

Ron stayed silent.

“Ron no matter what arguments and disagreements we have, especially about this war, you know that I’ll always be there for you. I’ll always love you, you know that right?”

“Yes, Hermione, I’m well aware.”

“Then why don’t you say anything back? You don’t seem to care for anybody at this point.”

“I have bigger things to focus on than our relationship Hermione,” Ron said, looking out the window as he watched Ginny cast another ward, “y’know, like winning this bloody War.”

“Alright Ron. I just wanted to let you know I still love you and care for you.” Hermione softly spoke, taking his hand in hers, “You should go.” She kissed his cheek and walked into the room where certain members of the Order were casting and practicing dueling.

Hermione sat against the wall and watched as spells of all colors went flying past her and were dodged. She heard the boys in the room call out the names of different spells.

“Expelliarmus!”

“Levicorpus!”

“Locomotor Mortis!” yelled Harry, and soon enough Fred’s legs were locked in place, and he fell over. 

“Harry, you really should be more careful with what spells you use in practice.” suggested Hermione, who earned a laugh from George. 

“Forget it, Hermione. Go help out with the wards. There’s already an even amount of people in here anyways, so you can’t practice until the wards are up.” Harry replied, sweat dripping down his forehead.

Hermione let herself out of their warfare practice, and was greeted by Severus standing in the middle of the room. 

“Granger,” acknowledged the cloaked man.

“Hello Severus,” Hermione glared at her former potions master, “is there something you would like to tell me?” she asked, in hopes of getting more information than he had last provided.

“Granger I can not say too much, or He’ll know,” Severus cleared his throat and spoke, “The Order must prepare for a huge choice, and you must pick wisely.” 

“Is that all you can say? Must you always have to be so cryptic?” Hermione questioned, frustrated with the lack of information she had been given. 

“I apologize I can not be of more help. I’ll be back with more information as soon as I can. The Dark Lord has just now summoned me. Sleep tonight Granger, you appear as if you need it.” he said,and soon enough he quickly walked out of sight and into the cupboard they had stolen from a previous battle.

She thought about what tomorrow could bring, and how she would have to prepare herself for what this quid-pro-quo could be. Hermione let herself into her cot and drifted into a slumber, wondering why Snape told her she needed it.

Her sleep was cut short by screaming and panic in the safe house. Her eyes shot open and she got up and out of her bed, wand in hand, ready to attack. As her vision came back from the sleep she was in, her gaze fell upon several members of the Order yelling and screaming at one another. She looked around the room, and the group was missing one person.

They were missing the boy she loved. The fiery-redhead she cared for and laughed with. The same redhead who took her in as family when she had to obliviate her family.

“Hermione, we’ve lost Ron!”

Hermione’s world went blank.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi again! today's the winter solstice :) i saw the jupiter and saturn conjunction and i found it super cool. anyways creds to karmen again. don't forget to leave kudos and a comment ^_-


	4. Chapter 4

“Hermione snap out of it! You need to get up!” Luna politely screamed, shaking a barely-there Hermione back into consciousness. 

The curly-haired girl slowly came to her senses and woke up with her fellow Order members towering over her. She remembered what had been going on and she needed to find Ron.

“How are we going to find Ron?” Hermione asked in a matter of fact tone, like she had not been on the floor two seconds ago.

“I’m not sure. He was usually the brains of our rescue operations.” Harry sighed and leaned his head on the wall.

Hermione stood up and walked outside to where Ginny had spent hours placing wards. How could they have gotten past them? This just corroborates with the fact that we have a snitch. Taking in the fresh air she needed after a very long time was like breathing in opium. At a place of serenity, she looked up to the blue sky. Fluffy clouds floated overhead, reminding her of when she would go to fairs with her parents, only to buy cotton candy. She wondered if she could ever get to do that with her family ever again.

Her idyllic sight of the clouds was quickly adjourned, as the blue sky she was once gazing upon turned gray. She was staring right into a Dark Mark of the Death Eaters, setting a cold shiver down her spine. Oh no, oh no, oh no, her thoughts began to spiral. She sprinted back inside, trying not to succumb to the feeling of terror.

“Harry! Fred, George, Lupin, everyone, are you okay? The mark is in the sky, we need to find a way to get out of here now. Guys-” Hermione was cut off by Harry letting out a blood curdling scream.

“Get up Harry, stay on your feet now, mate,” George spoke frantically as he ran to catch his friend who was near falling to the ground. He did nothing after he caught him.

The Order had concluded a long while ago that when Harry’s scar began to hurt, they couldn’t do anything about it. They would only wait for it to be over, and then comfort him as he told them what visions he saw. 

“What is it Harry? What is it you saw?” Remus gently pried as he lifted him to his feet. Harry usually took a little bit of coaxing after being in Riddle’s mind.

“They’re at the Ministry of Magic. They have Ron. I think they want us to meet them there, no foul play. Or so they claim. What do we do now?”

Hermione didn’t buy it. They’re Death Eaters! How can we go under the terms that there is no foul play? She made sure she would be extra careful on this mission, unlike the last one. She couldn’t have another person’s life on her hands.

“We go in pairs! I’m with Harry, Hermione with Luna, Neville with Lupin, and the twins go together. Lee, stay back and make sure the safe house is alright. Send a patronus if anything goes wrong.” Ginny said with a mix of resolve and fear in her voice.

Everyone silently agreed. 

The Order took turns stepping outside of the protective wards and apparating to the Ministry of Magic.

Having reached the large room with green fireplaces of apparition, they walked into the darkly colored room with utmost caution. Hermione was immediately reminded of when they came here in her fifth year, and when Harry watched his godfather, Sirius Black, fall into the Veil in the Department of Mysteries. She hoped that today would not end in another tragedy.

The group walked stealthily, minds focused on what they needed to obtain: Ron. 

The hall that they were in was abnormally quiet, pin drop silence. 

A sudden and loud thud blasted throughout the Ministry, with a mass amount of Death Eaters pouring out of all corners of the Ministry: from the apparition fireplaces, the elevators, and on broomsticks.

As they came charging towards them, Hermione readied her wand to defend her and her people.

Harry stood in front of the Order and yelled, “No foul play, I recall those were the terms?”

The Death Eaters stopped dead in their places, sneering at the Order. They yelled out obscenities about how scared they supposedly were. Hermione mentally facepalmed with second hand embarrassment. She recalled knowing that something like this might happen. 

At the front of the parade of Death Eaters, stood a tall and muscular figure. He had a mask on with a cloak and was there at the last infiltration. He was their leader. Hermione assumed this was Dolohov or Yaxley since their stature seemed similar. 

She looked to the figure’s right and in his hand was Ron held by the collar. Ron physically looked unharmed but she couldn’t assure that he was fine mentally. She debated what their next move could be. Before she had a chance to act on anything, the tall mysterious figure spoke.

“We have some terms for you all,” said the cloaked man, “a quid-pro-quo, if you will.”

The Order stood silent, but ready at the defense.

“We will exchange the Weasley boy for the mudblood girl.” 

All heads in the room immediately turned and shot towards Hermione. The army of Death Eaters let out a laugh at the loss of color in Hermione’s face. 

She looked straight ahead, and saw the muscular man turn his head back as he laughed. On the back of his head, she peeped an obnoxiously bright piece of platinum blonde hair. 

Hermione blinked and widened her eyes, she had seen that streak of hair multiple times before.

Malfoy? No, it can’t be.

“You’re outnumbered Potter. Hand over the mudblood and nobody walks away hurt,” spoke the Death Eater who stood next to Draco, who Hermione presumed was Dolohov.

Harry shot Hermione a worried and desperate look and Hermione wasn’t sure what it meant. 

“Those are the terms Potter. You can decide now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> karmen who is ao3-less atm is co-author once again. i've come to the conclusion that i like ao3 more than wattpad TwT. thank you for subscribing, we very much appreciate it. don't forget to leave kudos or a comment ^_-


	5. Chapter 5

Harry was seething in rage but managed to choke out a few words before he tore their heads off. 

“Give us a few moments to discuss, please.” 

“Whatever you want, Potter! We will be leaving with one of them. You decide who means more to you.” The masked figure chuckled heartily and called back his troops. 

The members of the Order stepped back a few yards and gathered in a semi-circle. They would’ve gone in a circle to maintain their privacy but you could never trust a Death Eater.   
Especially not a whole crowd of them. 

“Okay, well, we need to find a way to attack them. There’s not a lot of us though and,” Harry began but was shortly cut off by Hermione. 

“Harry! Seriously! There’s no way we could take them all. Can you recall that there’s only eight of us here?”

“Well, Hermione love, we can’t just give one of you up. That wouldn’t be fair to you or Ronald.” Luna put her hand on Hermione’s shoulder for comfort. 

Hermione gently moved away from Luna’s touch and whispered, “Just give me a moment to think.”

What could the Death Eaters want? If they had wanted Ron’s death, they would have ensured it already. They weren’t really the trade-off type. Did they need information, perhaps? Ronald knew all of the information that Hermione did; either way, they had very skilled Legilimens upon them and Ron wasn’t exactly an Occulumens. They would’ve taken all of his memories already. Plus, what significance did Hermione hold? She didn’t have any standoffish skills compared to the rest of the Order. 

Hermione came to the conclusion that they probably would torture her until she was dead. There was nothing else that they could have been planning to do. Her death would serve as an example of what would happen to the rest of the Order. A show of dominance. 

Hermione sighed. 

“They’re going to kill one of us, Harry. You have to choose. Him or me.”

The eight members of the Order looked shocked. 

George and Fred started to ramble, partially in fear and partially to lighten the mood.

“Well, Hermione, how could you know?”

“Yeah, Mione! You aren’t always right.”

“Guys, trust me on this. What other reason could they possibly have? They’re trying to eliminate members of the Order one by one. I honestly can’t believe we agreed to come here in the first place.”

Hermione was met with silence. Nobody said a word and she removed herself from the semi-circle they had formed.

She looked up one last time and saw the Death Eater that was holding Ron cast a red spell towards him, and he was unconscious. Hermione knew they were getting restless.

A strange Death Eater’s voice in the crowd yelled out, “Better hurry up mudblood! Who knows what spell we might use next.”

“Maybe the Killing Curse!” hollered someone from the crowd.

“Use the Imperius Curse! Then he can kill his bloody friends one by one!”

“Or a knee-reversing hex along with the Imperius, just like we did his little Hufflepuff friend!” screamed another.

Hermione shuddered at the thought of walking into the hospital and seeing Padma and Colin’s corpses being tended to by Madam Pomfrey.

“Enough! Come on Mudblood. Time’s up. You have to decide,” sneered the masked Death Eater standing in the front of the crowd. 

The Gryffindor came out of her as she said, “I’ll go. Give us Ron,” although feared pricked her vocal chords, “you have to give him to us first. You have my word.”

To the Order’s surprise, they pushed the unconscious Ron forward. His body lay on the floor as Hermione ran to the boy she loved.

“I’m doing this for you Ron. When you wake up don’t ruin it. I love you.” she quickly said, and kissed him.

Harry ran up behind them and looked at Hermione with a look that lacked thankfulness, but was full of worry, for Ron of course.

“Try Excitate,” she looked at the red haired boy, and then back at Harry, “he’ll be okay. Goodbye Harry.” 

The Order stood behind Hermione as she walked over to the side of the Death Eaters.

“Hermione, remember you’re better than them!” yelled Fred.

“If you come back alive,” Luna smacked Neville on the shoulder as he said this, “I mean don’t turn to dark magic!” hollered Neville.

Hermione flashed everyone a faint smile before she was aggressively grabbed by a Death Eater she didn’t know the name of. She swore that before she was taken she saw Harry celebrating as the Order walked away.

“I’ll try my best, guys.” Hermione swore quietly as she was dragged away. Surrounded by the enemy, the girl wasn’t sure what her next move in this game of chess could be.

As of right now, Hermione Granger was left impotent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and hermione has been taken.. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. 3 days until christmas. karmen finally got ao3 :)). anyways i'm glad people are finding this, i hope you're enjoying it. chapter 6 (which will come tomorrow) is my absolute favorite i hope you adore it as much as i do. have a swag rest of your dayyy.


	6. Chapter 6

Hermione was barely conscious as she was blindfolded, gagged and tied up. Wherever they were taking her, they obviously didn’t want her to know how to get there. They’re going to kill me anyways, why does it matter? she thought. Maybe they were going to torture her first then send her back as a mess to the Order. She shuddered. That thought wasn’t much more consoling than her death. 

The rope around her hands kept chafing away at her skin, leaving her wrists raw and exposed. They burned at the sight of air and it took all of her self control not to yelp out in pain. The Death Eater escorting her must’ve noticed her discomfort and decided to blow on her wrists. Holy fuck that hurts, she thought to herself while trying not to scream. 

“Top mudblood at Hogwarts, huh? Soon-to-be top mudblood in a ditch.” The Death Eaters around her started to roar in laughter. 

Surprisingly, Hermione started to calm down. She was going to be dead soon, why should she give them the satisfaction? At the very least, the Eaters wouldn’t have any horrible stories to bring back to the Order. Thinking through her rational viewpoint on things always made things slightly less worse. 

A gentler, yet heavier hand took place on Hermione’s shoulder. 

“We’re about to apparate. Hold on, we don’t want you splinching before we get there.”

Before she could choke a response out, the mystery person wrapped their left arm and cloak around Hermione before they continued to apparate. When the other Death Eaters touched her, it was as though they thought of her as a creature for her blood status. Whoever this person was wasn’t holding too much of a grudge against her. 

Once they reached their location, the tall figure spoke once again. 

“We’re almost there. Dolohov, here. You bring her the rest of the way.” Hermione could practically imagine Dolohov smirking in happiness because he would get to torment her along the way. 

She was trudging along as she felt her legs turn into jelly. Pausing for a moment to catch her breath. 

“Tired? Well we’re finally here. Can’t wait to see your corpse hang from a roof.” 

With that, Hermione felt a hand on her back, pushing her to her knees. She winced in pain as she felt splinters shoot up her knees. If only my hands were free. I could get my wand and blast a few of these bloody idiots, she thought. Hermione tried to move her elbow to her pocket and felt nothing. Damn it! They must’ve taken my wand. Her dream of taking down a few Death Eaters wasn’t going to happen any time soon. 

She felt a majority of the people around her shuffle away to another room. Still blindfolded, Hermione was oblivious to where she was and how many Death Eaters there were. Without her wand, there was basically nothing she could do to protect herself. Magic started my life and now it’s taking it away.   
Silence took over the room. 

“Well, mudblood. We need to get you going. The Dark Lord is waiting for your arrival.” The mystery figure? she thought.

He kneeled behind her and slowly unravelled the intricate knots of rope from her chafed wrists. She grimaced in pain as the rope rubbed on the raw skin. 

“You might need some ointment for that later. Don’t try anything, you don’t have your wand anyways.” 

Hermione would give anything to bitterly laugh at this person. She was going to be dead soon anyways, why would she need any ointment? If only this cloth in her mouth was removed. She would chew him apart.

It was like he could read her thoughts. 

“I’ll be getting that gag off in a moment. The blindfold, too. But you mustn’t attack me or Dolohov will take care of you.” Hermione responded with a solemn nod. 

He gingerly removed the cloth from her mouth. Her mouth was so dry but she could feel the cloth fibers lingering on her tongue. 

“Now the blindfold. It might be a bit bright.”

The blindfold fell to the floor. Hermione hungrily looked up in desperate need to see anything, anything but the solid darkness she had been seeing for the past hour or so. She winced. Her pupils hadn’t adjusted to the brightness. The light burned holes into her eyes, making her brain hurt. She snapped her eyes back shut. 

Once again, she tried to open her eyes. It took her a moment but she could faintly see a tall figure standing in front of her. The masked man. 

“Come along now. They’re all in the main dining hall.”

His voice was so painstakingly familiar but Hermione refused to believe it was Draco Malfoy. The boy who bullied her for her blood status for years. The one she slapped in a fit of rage. 

She turned away, refusing to give into his commands. 

“We must go. It takes a few minutes to walk there. Do you want the Dark Lord to escort you himself?”

Hermione’s body froze in fear. She shook her head. She would come with him. 

“Good choice, mudblood.”

The masked figure walked two steps behind Hermione as they trudged their way through a large manor. Every few feet, she would look up to see an elaborately painted portrait sneering at her. 

“Mudblood!”  
“How dare you step foot in a pureblood’s manor?”

“Look at what the cat dragged in!” 

Hermione put on a guarded expression to hide her true feelings of terror. 

“Hello my son.” A portrait of a strikingly beautiful woman spoke. She had half white and half black hair and was the epitome of beauty standards. Narcissa Malfoy. 

“Hello mother.” Draco sauntered up from behind Hermione to greet his mother. 

So it was Malfoy. 

“Why did you bring a mudblood into our house, Draco? I told you, no more strays.” The mother teased the son with only the slightest hint of edge in her voice.

“The Dark Lord commanded me to. He has a plan for her.” 

“Very well then. I believe they’re waiting in the main dining hall for you?”

“Thank you mother. I’ll visit you soon.”

Narcissa responded with a curt nod and smiled at her son. Her portrait suddenly went still ansilent. 

“What are you waiting for? Keep walking.” 

Hermione plodded along, denying her aching body any rest. Any sign of weakness would be her Achilles Heel in this manor. 

The sounds of the Death Eaters grew louder and louder as they moved closer and closer until they found themselves in the doorway. One more step before her death. Before her chapter ended and the Order’s began anew. 

“Ladies first.” Draco spoke from behind her. Hermione couldn’t tell if he was ecstatic or being sarcastic. 

She swallowed up the broken pieces of her pride and opened the door. 

Everything went silent.

Everyone was glaring at her as she walked in, almost gliding across the floor. If I’m going to die, I will go out looking like I did not care, she thought. Whenever anyone leered at her, she continued to hold her head high and maintain eye contact. Whatever fear she had left translated directly into intimidation. 

“Well well well, the Granger mudblood! We meet again.”

Tom Marvolo Riddle. The once talented soul, now the Dark Lord. The one Hermione dedicated the rest of her life to destroying. Right in front of her. 

With a silent spell, Hermione let out a small shriek as was being hung by her ankles in the air. 

“Now, you filthy creature, there are several things I could do to you,” he paused before he spoke again, “but I won’t. Now the reason I’ve commanded my army to bring you here today is that I believe you could be of use to us,”

Hermione looked at him and felt a gulp develop in her throat. She immediately began to inspect her surroundings once more before she heard him speak again. 

“You are going to switch allegiances.” he clearly said to the girl.

She looked at him and opened her mouth to say something, but a “Silencio” was cast on her before she could protest.

“Now, before you do anything to argue, I believe that you have developed, how do you say, feelings for that Weasley boy?” said Voldemort in disgust.

As she sat in front of him, she was determined to show no emotion.

“If you refuse, we kill you. The Weasley boy next. If you think about killing yourself or trying to escape, he goes down too.” 

Hermione sat before Riddle and kept her mouth shut. If she said anything, she could compromise the Order and their plans.

Before she could react, Voldemort stared into Hermione’s eyes. For a second, she thought that he was going to kill her. That was, before the pain and throbbing started to hit. 

Voldemort was using legilimency to go through her thoughts. 

“The thing guarding the Chamber of Secrets… is a dog? Named Fluffy? Who likes… harps?”

“Harry, how are you feeling? Okay? The key is to concentrate. After that all you have to do is-”  
“Battle a dragon.”

“Harry thinks that Malfoy has become a Death Eater.”

He was skimming over her memories faster than the speed of light. 

“Or a knee-reversing hex along with the Imperius, just like we did his little Hufflepuff friend!”

Throughout the pulsating agony that was flowing through her head, she realized what he was trying to do. Before Riddle could get any closer to the memories of the recent events of her lifetime, Hermione rid herself and her thoughts of emotion. As she voided her brain of the valuable information she stored, Hermione heard Riddle scream in rage. 

The final thing Hermione heard before she blacked out on the cold floor was his deep, vexed screeching combined with a few words.

“Malfoy! Take the mudblood. It’s yours.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LOVE THIS CHAPTER AND ITS MY WILL TO LIVE. goodnight. lol anyways have a nice day :) ^_-


	7. Chapter 7

When her consciousness finally returned to her, Hermione’s eyes opened to see a room with a chair and desk, a bathroom, and a window that had been barred. She laid in an old, creaky bed, and as she got up she could hear it squeak. 

It took a couple of seconds for Hermione to register where she was, and what had happened. As she came to her senses, the more she had to stress to keep calm. She tried to reflect on everything that had happened. 

_ Occlumency? I don’t know how to do that. Maybe I can learn somehow. How did I faint? Maybe it was a self-preservation instinct. _

Hermione told herself that she didn’t have time to think about the circumstances. She needed to find the quickest way to develop a way to let the Order know that she was alive, if they even cared. 

She looked over to find her wand on the floor. She thought of trying another spell to get out, but the odds of her escaping against all the Death Eaters were slim to none. Hermione picked up her wand in her right arm, and attempted to conjure a patronus.

_ Why isn’t this working? _

She struggled to find the last time she was happy in this war. Hermione skimmed through the past through months in her mind, and she couldn’t remember when she last felt true happiness. 

Truthfully, Hermione was tired. She was mentally and physically exhausted of what she's had to give up for this war, and she didn’t know how many pieces of herself she could give away before she finally shattered.

As her wand was in her arm, she began to think of her happy times when she was a school girl in Hogwarts. Deep inside her brain, she remembered about Ron, and when he chose Hermione over Lavender while subtly conscious in the hospital ward alongside Madam Pomfrey and Harry. Hermione would often remind herself that it was rude to laugh at the silly situation, but she needed it just this once. 

She put her wand up one final time and swished it in the motion to cast a patronus.

Hermione shut her eyes and aggressively whispered under her breath, “Expecto Patronum.” 

Her orbs fluttered open and they were greeted with nothing. She once again sat down on her bed in a fit of frustration and disconsolation. The thoughts running miles in her mind were put on pause by an aggressive knock at the door. Before she could provide permission for whomever it was to enter, in walked a familiar looking house elf.

The elf spoke, “Jinky was told she needs to bring the mudblood this,” as she set down a silver tray with mashed potatoes, steak, peas, with a glass of water, “Master commanded that Jinky ensures the mudblood does not starve, so Jinky prepared this meal. Jinky also figured the mudblood would get bored in here. Jinky snuck the latest newspaper. Please don’t tell Master about Jinky’s misbehaving,” with guilt in her voice she started to hit the head on the bed frame.

Hermione looked at the plate on her bed in awe and back at Jinky. 

“Jinky, Jinky stop! It’s alright. You don’t need to do all of this grand stuff for me.”

Jinky, you look awfully familiar…” Hermione inquired.

“Jinky is a house elf. All house elves look similar to one another.”

“No, I mean do you know of any other elves?”

“Jinky descends from a house elf. Jinky’s antecedent was called Dobby, although Jinky is not quite sure what happened to Dobby, Jinky knows he was well.”

Hermione felt as if her heart fell to her feet as guilt soared in her body.

She cleared her throat before she spoke again, “Thank you Jinky.”

She watched as the house elf made her way out of the room. Hermione wondered if she could open the door and walk out into the middle building. She got up from the bed she sat on and walked over to the door. As her hand reached closer to the knob, she felt it heat up warmer and warmer. She put her hand on the handle and felt an electric shock surge throughout her. 

“Merlin’s beard!” she whisper-yelled as she pulled her hand away from the door. 

Hermione limped back to the bed and looked at her food. It looked… good? Much better than the rations the Order had to pass around. 

She hesitated and took a small bite. The food was still warm and delicious. Hermione was quickly overcome with more piles of guilt. It wasn’t fair that she was receiving this treatment when the Order was still suffering. 

Hermione discarded the meal and turned to the newspaper, drinking in all the pictures and words. Information was practically gold in the war, though most of the war articles portrayed the Order defeats and the Death Eater wins. 

She turned to the front page. “ _ Order defeat at the Ministry.”  _

Of course. Hermione chose to torture herself with the details later and closed the paper. There wasn’t much else for her to do in her small room. Wondering what to do, she walked around her room but was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. Hermione quickly shoved her meal under her bed, in hopes of keeping Jinky out of trouble.

“Mudblood? Are you still alive?”

_ Malfoy.  _

“Yes.”

Draco Malfoy sauntered into the room. He seemed extremely out of place in the tiny room as his head almost touched the roof. He looked slightly displeased.

“I’ve been ordered to take you on a tour of the manor. Come along now.” with that, he spun around and left the room. 

Hermione grudgingly followed. 

“This is the dining hall. As you found out yesterday.”

“Here are the restrooms.” 

“This over here is the main room.” 

“This is the kitchen. Mostly house elves are here.” 

The tour continued on and on as the pair trudged from different parts of the manor to the others. Malfoy Manor was enormous in its entirety; Hermione could already feel the back of her calves burning from walking the large lengths. The pain reminded her of the same stinging she would get when she would run across Hogwarts to attend classes. It was a wonder that this land wasn’t considered a castle. 

Draco kept on introducing each room with its corresponding name and it’s importance. He droned on about his family history as Hermione tried to pay attention. Slowly, they made it back to Hermione’s room. 

“This is the garden,” he said as he opened a massive door to lead them out, “if and when you go out you aren’t allowed to go further than those gates over there. You’re a reliability and the Dark Lord won’t be happy to see you go missing.”

Hermione looked at him in awe. Were there wards guarding her from escaping? She decided not to think about it too much, she had to stay for Ron.

“You’ll be heading back to your room now. I suggest cleaning it. It looked filthy when I was there earlier.” proposed Malfoy.

Hermione refrained a scoff and made her way towards the room. She stepped in and Malfoy curtly nodded his head and walked off. As his footsteps resided, Hermione closed the door and leaned back on it for support. 

Her mind was solving puzzles once more. Hermione slid down the door and sat with her feet against her chest, and deliberated on what her life had become. 

Hermione wasn’t sure what to do with herself, or how to get out of her situation. She also wasn’t sure if she felt pity or jealousy of the Order that was out trying to defeat Tom. As she sat inside a low maintained room, they were out fighting for the world. She looked up through the barred, glass window, and let her thoughts roam for the time being.    
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> huge hiatus but WE'RE BACK!!!! we both needed to focus on school for a bit but we're going to try to update more often. again, let us know if you have anything you think we could do better on/ add! thank you so so so so much and have a nice day/night/afternoon/week.


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